Worldwide water needs are increasing rapidly and factors such as population growth, increased industrial usage and pollution of existing supplies may limit many countries' capability to satisfy freshwater demands in the future. The development of new water resources through the purification of impaired resources is seen as a critical technology for meeting future water needs. Existing desalination techniques are characterized by large energy expenditures to generate potable water. The associated cost of energy is one of the dominant factors in the water desalination economy.
One purification technique, reverse osmosis, is gaining increased acceptance as a viable desalination technique due to its low energy consumption and its design flexibility. But in water starved areas and remote, inland areas where electric grid connectivity is limited, the energy cost associated with reverse osmosis based desalination may render the desalination solution as economically infeasible. Wind energy provides an important source of power for these regions and other areas where the cost of energy from other sources is high or unavailable.
Desalination is only one example of an electrically powered sub-system that could benefit from wind energy. Other examples of electrically powered sub-systems include electrical power storage devices, such as batteries, hydrogen electrolysis systems, variable speed pumping systems, and the like. Conventional systems have not integrated these types of electrically powered sub-systems with wind energy sources.
Thus, systems and methods for providing integration of an electrically-powered sub-system and a wind power source are needed.